How I got into a UK university

I cannot believe that I started this blog when I got into university. Let's go back to that point. I technically took a second gap year after my Au Pair year, cause I was still confused about life and everything. I did apply to universities that year but the courses I got into were just not right and I did not want to study something random and not like it. It was quite a horrible year, all I wanted was to be back in America, and not be stuck at home with my parents. Back then, someone was urging me to just do another course that is similar...like culture or whatnot- so I wouldn't end up with a gap on my resumee.
Utter bullshit, let me tell you. Until now, no one has EVER looked at my CV and asked me what I have done that year. And I would rather have a little work experience than a dropped uni course on there. So just don't listen to anyone, if your gut tells you something else. Most of the time, you know what's good for you. And I am not a quitter. I probably would have complete that degree while hating it. And that what not have gotten me anywhere.

Just like every other person, I wanted to do something "with media". Getting into university in Germany seemed ridiculously complicated if you didn't graduate top of the class in high school. Then I looked in to studying film but that was either in film schools in Bavaria or impossible to get into grade-wise. Meeeeh!

Eventually I got into the idea of studying abroad. First I was obsessed with Ireland, but then the application process seemed random and complicated and then I found that the UK has an actually straightforward process. It's called UCAS and has pros and cons. What I LOVE about it is that the unis don't just look into your grades but at your motivational letter. This gives people a chance that really wanna do something but don't have the most amazing grades. The cons is that you can only apply to 5 unis, so you have to pick them carefully. I eventually applied to four English unis and one Scottish one. Can you guess which one accepted me?

Not gonna lie, the English unis all rejected me. I think the research I did on those unis was not the best. Honestly, I had no idea what kind of unis I applied to. I am so so glad that they did reject me though, because studying in Scotland is pretty much free and in England you have to pay a bijillion pounds a year. Biig factor that I somehow forgot to include in my thoughts? 

As you see, I got incredibly lucky with my application. I obviously did some things right but then some of them were not good enough. (I just wish I could have found a blog where someone told me what to do- haha)

This was my weird journey to university and I always tell people that it was fate that I ended up in Scotland. Random thing- when I was about 15 I bought a travel guide for Scotland. My friend asked me if I was planning to go to Scotland anytime soon, and I just said 'one day'- The travel bug only really hit me after my Au Pair year, but even though I wasn't specifically thinking that I wanted to move to Scotland. It was more a case of "I hate Germany and feel so out of place" and "I need to study in English cause I cannot deal with German". I consider myself really lucky that everything worked out the way it did, and my years in Scotland were just the best.

xxx

Recap of 2015

Ahhh 2015. You know that feeling when you already know that a year is going to be special? For the past 4 years I knew that this was gonna be the year I graduate from university. I knew that I also had to make a decision about what to do after I graduate. Scary! If this year wasn't about making big changes, I don't know what year was!

So let's see:

• I wrote my dissertation!
• I graduated from University
• I got accepted into my dream master programme at BCU
• Spent the most amazing week on a yacht in Croatia
• I worked at the Fringe, this time as a supervisor
• Moved to Birmingham

THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE 

 

That day, all I wanted to do was cry of happiness. The ceremony was beautiful, the Scottish weather was at its freaking BEST, all my people, THE ATMOSPHERE- this day was the reason I wanted to study in Scotland. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. 

THE HOLIDAY

Croatia man! For one week we were island hopping and loving life on a yacht with six Aussies (who could easily be in a boyband, I mean look at them!). Truly the most beautiful, peaceful and fun week I have ever (?!) had. 

THE MOVE

Now the move to Birmingham is a big part of this year. Not the happiest time and definately not the easiest. I miss Scotland all the time and I didn't think it was gonna be this hard to get used to another city on the same island. However, what ultimately counts is that I am studying my dream MA, which was the best decision, and I don't regret moving here. 

And now 2016- I think this is scarier than all the years before. I am going to be done with my MA, and actually starting the real life in the real world. Where people have jobs and stuff. BLURGH!

Happy new year guys!

 

GRADUATION

GRADUATION

Oh my, I guess I took a proper summer break here.

Let's catch up then- At the end of June, I moved out of my flat in Edinburgh (horrible and sad) and flew home. I spent some time at home (during the heat wave, yay!), which was actually really nice and felt more relaxed than usual. In July, I flew back to Edinburgh with my mum and my sister and GRADUATED! I loved the whole day but also felt like crying most of the time (happy tears of course). Seeing everyone together, taking fun pictures in the glorious sunshine, drinking champagne and eating strawberry tarts... best day ever.

DISSERTATION FREEDOM

3 days early, this bugger is out of my way! Julia and I nervously submitted our dissertations on Friday, followed by a lunch in the SUN! Scotland has finally seen some sun and everyone freaked out, obvvviously. Since then, I have done a lot of nothinggggggg and it is GREAT! 

I hoovered my room, painted my nails, chucked a ton of dissertation drafts and spent all Saturday in BED. OH sweet freedom!

2 more essays to go, then this uni thing will be officially over...(well until graduation in July, woohoo!)

Bye March, hello April!

March is seriously over. It was not anything like spring, I did not feel like spring was coming most of the time, but hey- this is still Scotland. In my previous monthly summary post I shared this to do list for March and I can proudly say I checked almost all of the items! Most of the time this month I felt like a caveman, just getting up every morning and sitting at my desk ALL.DAY. Exhausting and boring.



go to a hot yoga class

I did have it planned, but then something came up. However, there is a yoga studio on my street (!!), so I have like no excuses.

write my effing dissertation (THIS IS NOT A DRILL JOYCE!)

I mean it is not finished, but I have a full draft and I cannot wait to be over and done with it.

go crazy for St. Patrick's Day because I finished my dissertation draft (see above ><)

I didn't even have my draft finished back then haha, but St. Patrick's Day cannot be ignored, no no.

slowly get rid of things I don't need (our move out date is end of May, help!)

Does it count that I booked a flight home in May and that I will bring back a full suitcase of just useless stuff? I am hoarder, I admit it. I love keeping things because I think that one day, I will need them. Sometimes that has been true, most of the time probably not. Haha

finally go to all the art galleries in Edinburgh

Okay it was definitely not all of them, but I went to the one I really wanted to go to for ages!

Alright April, what have you got in mind? I cannot believe it is actually here- we survived winter more or less (although I am scared of our electricity bill), the semester is pretty much over, I have time on my hands... what??! My friend who's been wanting to come for ages, is finally coming over for a visit- SO EXCITED!!!! I can't wait to show her Edinburgh and be a tourist again as well for a bit...so yes, April should be good!

take touristy pictures of Edinburgh

SUBMIT THAT DISSERTATION!

celebrate like there is no tomorrow

finish my last assignments - and Uni- with a BANG

go to a hot yoga class (for realz)

Dreaming about: Graduation.

photo credit: Aston University via photopin cc

It's graduation time right now here in the UK and it makes me so SUPER excited for my own graduation next year!

Germany sadly has no tradition in this sense whatsoever, there is no proper graduation ceremony for most courses and everyone just sort of ...leaves and that's it.

Sometimes when I'm asked why I came to the UK to study I say it's because of the graduation ceremony that includes the gown and the hat and all of that traditional fun stuff. Obviously I came for other reasons as well, but (to be honest) I am really glad that graduation is a big deal here.

Probably still not as big as in the US, but still.

What I am not excited about (not yet at least) is the time after graduation- where to go, what to do. Too much to figure out! I don't want to move out of this lovely flat, I am sad to (probably) leave Edinburgh, make a new start ... all so terrifying.

ANYWAYS, the actual graduation day is something I am SO excited for. My parents and my sister coming here, taking a lot of fun pictures with everyone, going out for dinner/lunch after...  needless to say I am super jealous that my friends had this super sunny day on their graduation this year.

ONLY 360 days left until it's gonna be ME!

Studying. UK vs US

Coming to the US to actually study here at a University was one of my dreams- I never thought I would actually do it but here I am. There are so so many differences between the University systems and between the two schools I have been to- some are hard to adjust to, some are not really noticable.
Something I want to say before you read this comparison: Both of the schools are pretty small with the student body being around 6000 students. QMU in Scotland is probably very different to the University of Edinburgh, that has around 25000 students. It is not really representative for Scottish Universities and neither is St. Edward's like any other American college. They are both pretty special schools and I love them both very much. They were the right choice for me, even though I never thought that small and personal classes would be the right fit for me. I find it actually nice that the teachers know my name and where I'm from. Another thing is that my course (film and media, or communication here in the US) are pretty modern and fun classes and not as serious or stressful like law or science for example. So keep this in mind when reading this!

	Scotland (UK)	USA
Assignments	We have around two/three essays per module per semester and then maybe an exam at the end. We have to keep up with reading during the semester. My uni relies very much on independent studying, doing your work in your own time and being responsible for what you do.	Loads and loads of stuff. Homework for almost every class, reading, presentations with every project, field trips, exams, ... it never ends! It feels like high school, there is attendance taken in almost every class, they micro manage you a lot. I have the pleasure of taking quite interesting classes, but generally the system requires you to take a bit of everything until declaring your major. Thank god I don't have to do that!
Daily life	I live in the beautiful city cente of Edinburgh and the campus is around 40 bus minutes away. I have classes maybe around 8-10 hours a week but attentance is not really taken, so it could be much less. Therefore, I have time to find a job, chill, meet friends, do other stuff. It feels much more relaxed and independent. It gives you time to "have a life" that does not just revolve around uni.	It feels like school is my main priority here. It probably should be like that anyways, but let's be honest. Student life should also be fun. Living on campus and having so much work, I always (try to) finish my uni work and then do other stuff. What makes life hard as an exchange student in the US is not having a car. You are pretty mich stuck on campus. The bus system in Austin is fairly okay but does not help when you want go somewhere off the route. I have accepted this and built my life around my friends here, doing stuff with them and then going out on the weekends with them. Doing stuff on my own is not part of my life here, which is very strange in a way.
Exams	I hate exams and I find them really hard. Studying for it is not so much about learning dates and facts but about understanding the relevant issues and developing a critical standpoint.	Here, most exams are multiple choice. So you don't really need to understand anything but just study until you know everything from the top of hour head. SO so different from home and not really my preference either.
Atmosphere & Community	QMU has it quite hard. The newly built campus is outside of Edinburgh and even though we have a Student Union with a bar and events and so on, very few of the students are actually taking part. Living on campus is mostly for freshers so they are almost the only ones on campus when classes are finished for the day. You wouldn't just meet up on campus if you live in town, which makes it really hard for any sense of community to develop.	This point is very dependent on the different schools, but community is a big thing here. The US is full of campus Universities, with no big city around. Everything revolves around campus life, the bigger schools have their own police, shops and so on. Creating a community is one of the main priorities here, with campus events, school mascots and obviously sport teams, school pride, getting T-shirts for every event... typical American. I love it, it makes it so much easier to meet people and be part of something.

Uni Memes

Seit heute oder gestern oder was weiß ich gibt es bei Facebook verschiedene Seiten von den verschiedenen Unis (Edinburgh Uni, Herriot Watt & Napier) Meme Seiten. Über die beklopptesten Sachen und Eigenarten der verschiedenen Unis. Ihr werdet wahrscheinlich nicht alles verstehen, weils halt irgendwie Insider Witze sind, aber here we go:

Ja, wir haben sehr aggressive Schwäne, die auf dem Campus leben. Und wenn die einfach mal auf dem Weg rumstehen- dann hat man ein Problem.
Und ja,es sind tatsächlich ZIEMLICH viele Mädchen hier auf der Uni.